Friday, December 31, 2010

New species discovered in 2010
From invisible squids to bald parrots to deep-sea fish with teeth on their tongues, guardian.co.uk picks the best of of 2010's newly discovered animals.
This image provided by NOAA shows a deep-sea chimaera. Chimaeras are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 400m years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

A fascinating man - Ed Wilson is the ant man.
Over six decades at Harvard University he has discovered more about ants than anyone else in history. He has thrown into relief for the general public just how important ants are—how they represent 25% or more of the insect biomass on the planet, how collectively they weigh more than all the humans in the world, how they assist humans by aerating the soil, suturing wounds, or, as in South Africa, harvesting the rooibos seeds for farm workers to collect. And how ancient they are: in 1966 Wilson and his colleagues identified an ant in a shard of amber that was 80m years old. Ants emerged along with flowering plants 130m years ago. By contrast, the genus Homo diverged 2m years ago, has existed as Homo sapiens for a fraction of that time, with a civilization of 20,000 years or so.
Read more: Ants and Us, Published on More Intelligent Life
or watch NOVA: Lord of the Ants on YouTube

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

An 8-month-old German shepherd named Rebel somehow squeezed his head through a hole in an 18-inch block wall at his Desert Hot Springs home Monday.
Then he got stuck.
Rebel may have been chasing another animal or was just curious about the hole, said Sgt. James Huffman of Riverside County Animal Services. The dog cried and whimpered until a friend of the owner heard him and called authorities. The dog’s owner wasn’t home at the time.
County Animal Services officers arrived about 12:30 p.m. and determined that the dog was not in serious danger. Huffman said they concluded that if the dog was able to get his head into the hole, they would be able to pull him out without damaging the wall, but their main concern was not to hurt Rebel while getting him out.
An officer got on either side of the wall, tucked in the dog’s ears and nudged him back and forth for about 30 minutes before getting him out safely.
Source

This bald, grey-skinned creature was shot and killed in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, after it emerged from woodland into the garden of a home.
The animal, which has large ears, whiskers and a long tail, has sparked intense debate on the internet, with some claiming it is one of the mythical chupacabras.
Source
... I don't know, it kind of looks like a hairless raccoon. What do you think?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

An AP-Petside.com Poll, conducted October 13-20, 2010, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, found that 53 percent of pet owners plan to get their animals a present this holiday season. Of these, fifty-six percent of the dog owners say they'll buy their pets a gift this Christmas, but only 48 percent of the cat owners plan a gift.
Also interesting: women (56 percent) are somewhat more likely than men (49 percent) to buy their animals a gift. The poll also showed that renters (66 percent) are more apt to pamper their pets than homeowners (49 percent). And while fewer than half of those who attend religious services weekly or more often say they plan to buy their pets a gift, 60 percent of those who never attend services do.
And while we're talking about Christmas gifts for pets, don't forget to get yours, at i-pets.com.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

LAKELAND, Fla. -- A reindeer escaped from a nativity scene in Lakeland, but was later caught hiding under an elf house, police said Tuesday.
While the story sounds like a Christmas tale, police say it's true. A caller to police early Tuesday morning said the reindeer had escaped from the nativity scene at Highland Park Church of the Nazarene on Lake Highlands Road.
Church personnel responded to the area where the reindeer, appropriately named Rudy (short for Rudolph, of course), was seen running loose. They chased the deer around the property before finding Rudy hiding under the "elf house," police said.
Rudy, who was unharmed, is now in the care of his owner and being kept at his house to prevent another escape from his enclosure on the church property. Police said Rudy is small in stature and, while he looks like a baby deer, he is actually 3 years old.
Source

A well-researched article in boston.com examines anthropologist Pat Shipman's premise that the unique ability to observe and control the behavior of other animals is what allowed us to become the humans that we are.
While some of Shipman's colleagues are skeptical, others describe her work as a promising new framework for looking at human evolution, one that highlights the extent to which the human story has been a collection of interspecies collaborations — between humans and dogs and horses, goats and cats and cows, and even microbes.
read more

Sotheby's: Audubon sells for record £7.3m

LONDON 7 DECEMBER 2010 --- This evening, one of the most magnificent printed books ever produced, John James Audubon’s Birds of America, sold at Sotheby’s London for £7,321,250/ US$11,542,683, establishing a new world record for any printed book ever sold at auction. A fiery enthusiasm among four collectors bidding on the phones and in the room drove the price rapidly beyond pre-sale expectations (£4-6 million/ US$6.3-9.5 million). The book was bought by London dealer Michael Tollemache, who was bidding in the room and who described the work after the sale as “priceless”.
Source

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

LONDON -- Sotheby's is auctioning a rare copy of John James Audubon's "Birds of America," billed as the world's most expensive book - a treasure that could sell for 6 million pounds ($9.5 million).
One of only 100 or so remaining copies of "Birds of America," the tome will be on the block Tuesday in London alongside a first edition of Shakespeare's plays expected to fetch at least 1 million pounds ($1.6 million).
The books come from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died in 1955. Another complete copy of "Birds of America" was sold by Christie's for $8.8 million in 2000, a record for a printed book at auction.
The collection of 435 hand-colored prints is made from engravings of Audubon's illustrations.
Source

What a great idea!
Morton® Safe-T-Pet™ Ice Melt was developed with veterinarians to be safer for your furry friends. It's completely salt and chloride free - so it won't irritate pets' paws or stomachs. Morton® Safe-T-PetT Ice Melt is also non-toxic, and it won't irritate skin, so it's better for people and plants, as well as paved surfaces.
Pet and people friendly: Veterinarian approved, chloride-free, non-toxic
Safer for environment: Better for plants and concrete than regular salt
Easy to see: Colored pellets provide clear visibility
***
To celebrate Morton Salt’s new Facebook Fan Page, they have launched a contest, “What’s Your Morton Salt Secret?” They’re looking for readers to share a photo of their best nifty tip, trick or use of Morton Salt.
The grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 AMEX gift card and a Morton Salt prize pack. Morton Salt will also be awarding four Runner-up winners and six Sweepstakes winners with prize packs!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Most of us, by now, know that koala are not really "bears."
But did you also know that koalas are social animals and can communicate with each other over long distances? But the most important fact about koalas is that the impact of intense urbanization has resulted in the destruction of their habitat, while the attacks of other animals, like domestic dogs and foxes, and traffic accidents, are causing the koala population to decline.
Source: Environmental Graffiti